Roma sack Mourinho, eye former star De Rossi as successor
ROME: Jose Mourinho’s time at Roma came to an end on Tuesday after the Serie A club sacked the “Special One” midway through what has been a deeply disappointing third season in the Italian capital. Mourinho departs Roma after an emotional two-and-a-half years in which he won Europa Conference League in 2022, ending a 14-year trophy drought for the capital club.
Roma said that Mourinho would leave alongside his staff “with immediate effect”, adding that it was “in the best interests of the club” after a series of poor results left the team way off the pace in the Italian top flight. Italian media report that former Roma captain Daniele De Rossi, a World Cup winner with Italy in 2006, is the favourite to replace Mourinho as coach. Mourinho’s contract was due to expire in June and although he had repeatedly stated that he wanted to stay on, talks about an extension to his deal never materialised.
Rumours of his departure grew more persistent after Sunday’s dismal 3-1 defeat at AC Milan which left Roma ninth in Serie A, five points away from the Champions League positions. “We would like to thank Jose on behalf of all of us at AS Roma for his passion and efforts since his arrival at the club,” said owners Dan and Ryan Friedkin in a statement.
“We will always have great memories of his tenure at Roma, but we believe that an immediate change is in the best interests of the club. “We wish Jose and his assistants all the best in their future endeavours.”
The 60-year-old Portuguese was a shock appointment in 2021, Roma’s announcement of his arrival as the replacement to Paulo Fonseca coming almost completely out of the blue.